Fourth Phase of INSS Fraud Probe Nets Arrests as Conafer Chief Is Sought

Overview

• STF minister André Mendonça authorized the latest phase of Operation Sem Desconto, which yielded nine arrests and 63 searches in 15 states and the Federal District, with electronic monitoring ordered for former minister José Carlos Oliveira.
• Conafer president Carlos Lopes had an arrest order but was not found, while his brother Tiago Lopes and alleged payment operator Cícero Marcelino de Souza Santos were taken into custody.
• PF and the CGU estimate R$6.3 billion was diverted across entities and impacted thousands of beneficiaries, with more than R$640 million linked to Conafer between 2017 and 2023.
• The scheme used falsified association forms and fraudulent inputs in Dataprev/INSS systems to impose deductions on more than 600,000 benefits, routing payoffs through shell companies.
• Evidence details payouts to senior INSS officials, including up to R$250,000 a month to ex-president Alessandro Stefanutto and about R$6.57 million to ex-legal chief Virgílio Antônio de Oliveira Filho, while deputy Euclydes Petersen is accused of receiving R$14.7 million for political protection.